Belt-rack for supporting articles



0. H. FRANK. BELT RACK FGR SUPPORTING ARTICLES.

' APPLICATION FILED ocT. I6. I9Is.

1,342,626. Patented June 8, 1920.

vwenfoz OTTO HENRY FRANK, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BELT-RACK FOR SUPPORTING ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1920.

'Application flied october 1c, 191s. serial No. 258,422.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OTTO HENRY FRANi, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn7 in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements iii Belt-Racks for Supporting Articles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to racks used for supporting small articles in convenient position to enable them to be quickly and easily removed or replaced, the rack having such form as to enable it to be readily mounted upon or removed from` any suitable support which happens to be available.

More particularly stated, my invention contemplates a rack made in the form of a belt adapted to encircle a tree, a post, or even a persons waist, and adjustable so that it maybe caused to fit snugly or tightly, as desiredthis rack being equipped with supporting members detachably mounted upon it for engaging and sustaining the articles to be supported.

My invention further contemplates giving such form to the belt rack and the supporting members as will enable them to stand the weight of comparatively heavy articles to be supported.

My invention further contemplates various improvements in the form and the details of construction of the various parts making up my device.

eference is made to the accompanying drawing Jforming a part of this speciiication, and in which like letters indicate like parts throughout the several figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective, showing my improved belt rack encircling the trunk of a tree.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective of one of the swinging brackets detachably mounted upon the belt rack.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and shows certain details of the locking lever carried by the belt rack,

Fig. 4L is a fragmentary front elevation of the lever hook and other parts associated therewith, carried by the belt rack and forming a part thereof, for tightening the belt rack upon its support.

A belt is shown at 5, and may be made of any suitable thin and iieXible material, but is in this instance made of sheet metal.

It is of suitable form to encircle a treetrunk 6, or a post, or even the human waist, as desirability or convenience may determine.

The belt 5 is provided with holes 7, spaced equidistant as shown, and as a group located adjacent one end of the belt.

lThe opposite end of the belt appears at 8, and carries a guide plate 9, secured to it by rivets 10 and provided with a bevel 11, arranged as shown in Fig. 3.

A plate 12 is b T rivets 13 secured to the belt 5, and is located in close proximity to the guide plate 9. The plate 12 is provided with an opening 14, and located within this opening is a latch 15, provided with a portion 16, slightly beveled or rounded as shown more particularly in Fig. 3, and with a shoulder 19. The latch 15 has the general form of a hook, and is mounted to rock on a pin 17, which is carried by the plate 12 and extends across the opening 14.

A leaf spring 18 is bent around the pin 17. This spring is at one of its ends secured to the plate 12, its other end extending into a recess 18, in the latch 15. The spring is so arranged that by its tension it normally holds the latch in the position indicated in Fig. 3, but the latch can be rocked from this position in a clockwise direction by overcoming the tension of the spring. That is to say, the spring tends to restore the latch to its normal position whenever it is momentarily rocked therefrom.

The guide plate 9 carries a portion 2() integral with it and forming an eye provided with a slot 21tl1rough which a portion of the belt may be threaded, as inflicated in Fig. 3. In practice the tip end 22 of the belt is slipped through the slot 21. and more of the belt is pulled through 1201-/ lowing thel tip. Y

The guide plate 9 is provided with a knuckle 23, and extending through this knuckle is a pintle 242. A lever 25 is provided,with a pair of knuckles 26 through which the pintle 24 extends so that the lever 25 is journaled to turn upon the pintle as a center. The lever 25 is rather flat and thin, and is provided with two openings 27, 28 separated by a cross bar 29. The cross bar 29 is so formed and located that when the lever 25 is swung 'from its position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 to its position indicated by full lm es in said figure the cross bar 29 engages the rounded or beveled surface 16 of the latch 15 and causes the latch to rock, so that the cross bar 29 passes the shoulder 19, whereupon this shoulder engages the cross bar 29 and thus prevents any retrograde movement of the lever 25, as may be understood from Fig. 3.

The lever 25 is provided with two thickened portions 29a, and carried by these thickened portions and extending therefrom in opposite directions are two pins 30.

A hook 31, having substantially a Y-shape, is journaled upon the pins 30, and adapted to swing` thereupon. rhe hook 31 is provided with an elongated portion 32, having a reverting tip 33, adapted for slipping into any one of the holes 7.

lVhen the parts are in the positions indicated by full lines in Fig. 3, the belt is closed and fitting snugly upon a support, as indicated in Fig. 1. 1n order to release the belt, the operator grasps the latch 15 and rocks it to the left, that is, in a clockwise direction according to Fig. 3. This releases the lever 25 so that the latter swings to the rightthat is, in a contraclockwise direction according to Fig. 3, as indicated by dotted lines in this figure. This loosens the hook 31, so that the reverting tip 33 is disengaged from the belt. The belt may now be removed, or the tip 33 may be passed through another hole 7, as desired. If the tip 33 be passed through another hole 7 and the lever 25 swung back to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the belt can be made to fit more tightly upon the support 6.

Slidably mounted upon the belt 5 are a number of bases 33, each provided with a pair of ears 34 integral with it and extending parallel tov each other. The ears 34 are provided with notches 35, into which extend the edges of the belt, so that the bases can be slided along the belt and spaced apart thereupon, as desired. Each base 33 carries a pintle 36, and this pintle extends through a knuckle 37, which supports an arm 38 and is integral therewith. Thus the arms 38 are adapted to swing upon the pintles 36, or in other words, are journaled upon the slidably mounted bases 33. Each arm 38 is at its outer end provided with an enlarged portion 39, integral with it and formed into an eye.

Articles to be supported may be rested or hung upon the arm 38; the form of the eye 39 facilitating this purpose.

Each arm 38 is further provided with a slot 40, whereby it is lightened and its appearance is improved. By virtue of this slot a slight degree of resiliency is also conferred upon the -arm.

I find that with the device above described a considerable number of articles can be supported, and that they may have considerable weight.

As each arm 38 can be turned or swung relatively toits base 33, the articles supported can be moved relatively to each other to some extent, and this arrangement promotes convenience and compactness.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism shown, as variations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

l. In a device of the character described the combination of a belt, means for tightening said belt around a tree trunk or the like, so as to temporarily support said belt thereupon, a base engaging said belt and provided with a pair of ears extending parallel to each other and each provided with a notch, each edge of said belt extending loosely into one of said notches so as to hold said base upon the belt while enabling the base to slide relatively to the belt, and v an arm carried by said base and extending therefrom in order to support an article.

2. The combination of a belt, means for tightening the samearound a tree trunk or the like in order to support said belt thereupon, a base slidably engaging said belt and having ears provided with notches into which the edges of the belt extend in opposite directions so as to render said base slidable relative to said belt and yet to give said base a firm support while said belt remains tight upon said tree trunk or the like, and a supporting arm carried by said base and mounted to swing relatively to said base.

oTTo HENRY FRANK. 

